Thank you, farmers

In 1960, one U.S. farmer fed an average of 26 people. Today, that number has reached 155.

Many urban Americans aren't aware of the productivity gains by U.S. farmers of the last 50 years.

New Monsanto video lets farmers know this gain in productivity is appreciated.

This Thanksgiving season, U.S. farmers are being treated to something they don’t hear every day: A message thanking them in the form of a commercial that is running in many of the major TV markets around the nation.

The commercial, which began appearing on the networks and local stations Monday, features a series of interviews with consumers in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Des Moines, Iowa. The interviewees thank growers after being told that one American farmer now feeds 155 people.

One of the subjects calls that feat “amazing.” Another thanks farmers for bringing so much food to the table “because without farmers we wouldn’t have a table.” And another thanks farmers “on behalf of all New Yorkers.” More than 250 "man-on-the-street" interviews were conducted for the video.

The video clip, which is shown in a slightly longer version in the link that follows, contains only one commercial message. The Monsanto name and logo appear at the very end. To view it, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4vvPPNyQ5g.